Device for handling articles



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K. HOBBS DEVICE FOR HANDLING ARTICLES Filqd April 27, 1960 June 25, 1963 1 4 5 9 7 H w w a FAA? J n 2 6 F 0 w United States Patent Oil ice 3,095,229 DEVICE FUR HANDLING ARTICLES Kenneth Hobbs, Bassett, Southampton, England, assignor to North American Philips Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 25,101 Claims priority, application Great Britain May 1, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 294-64) There are known holders for holding and transporting an object by means of reduced pressure, this holder having a working opening to be closed by the object to be transported.

With such holders the working aperture communicates directly by way of passages provided in the holder with some given vacuum chamber.

Such a vacuum duct is not always available. More over, holders connected with vacuum ducts always re- -quire particular measures to avoid losses of pressure due to leakage. The use of such holders, particularly the use or" a plurality of holders, gives rise to a variation in the reduced pressure in the underpressure passages.

The present invention has for its object to provide a holder which can be manipulated in a simple manner, for example by way of a writing instrument, without the need for providing subpressure ducts.

The holder or pickup pencil according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises, in addition, two further apertures, i.e. an inlet and an outlet aperture, which communicate by way of a connection passage with other and in that tne working aperture is provided at the end of a second connection duct, of which the other end opens out in the first connection duct in a manner such that owing to the supply of overpressure gas through the first connection duct an under-pressure is produced in the second duct and in that by closing the outlet aperture of the first connection duct the gas subjected to the overpressure can leave the holder only through the working aperture. In this holder the outlet aperture oft he first connection duct plays an important part. If this aperture is not closed, underpressure will prevail at the area of the working aperture, so that the object to be transported is held by underpressure. This object may then be released from the holder at the desired instant by closing the outlet aperture, for example, by the finger, so that a flow of a gas under high pressure is led through the working aperture to the outer side. Such a device, in which consequently use is only made of an overpressure gas, for example, compressed air, may be used successfully in the tor devices, the holder being suitable for transporting small objects such as germanium crystal-s to other working places. The dimensions of such crystals are very small, for example, 2 millimeters x 2 millimeters x 150 microns; with the aid of the holder according to the invention these crystals can be picked up individually from a stock of intermixed crystals and be transported.

In a further embodiment of the holder the supply aperture is located in the part of the holder farthest remote from the working aperture while the outlet aperture is located at a place near the working aperture. When the distance between the outlet aperture and the working aperture is chosen small, picking up of the object and releasing it may be carried out by one hand, the elongated holder being held in the hand in the same manner as a conventional writing instrument (pencil).

When the holder part having the working aperture is shaped in a conical form, the holder may have a shape such that it corresponds substantially to the shape of a sharpened pencil. The use of such a holder is thus facilitated materially in removing individual objects from a plurality of small objects.

manufacture of semi-conduc- The invention will be described more fully with reference to the drawing, which shows one embodiment of the holder according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional View, which shows the outlet aperture and FIG. 2 is also an axial sectional view, turned through with respect to the plane of the drawing of FIG. '1.

The holder or pickup pencil may be an elongated tubular member of one or more parts but the construction presently preferred as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises an envelope 1, having a central inlet aperture 2 and being shaped in a form such that onto the end 3 thereof a tube can be slipped in a conventional manner, this tube communicating with a compressed air supply. In the envelope '1 is housed a connection piece 4, provided with a tapering bore 5. The communication between the envelope 1 and the connection piece 4 is a compressed-air connection. The edge 6 constitutes a stop. On the end 7 of the connection piece 4 is slipped a second tube or envelope 8 with the aid of a compressed air stufiing box. The edge 9 constitutes the stop. The end 7 is shaped in a conical form. In the second tube or envelope 8, which has a lateral outlet aperture 10, is also provided an interior venturi piece 11. This venturi piece has opposed cylindrical parts 12 (FIG. 1) and two intermediate opposed fiat sides or recesses 13 (FIG. 2). Thus channels 14 are formed. The end of the venturi piece 11 is formed so that between the end 7 of connection piece 4 and the venturi piece 11 a conical duct 15 associated with the throat 17 remains, and furthermore an annular chamber 16 remains between the two pieces. The venturi piece 11 has a venturi throat 17 and central bore or constriction orifice 17:: which communicates through a lateral aperture 18 with the lateral aperture 10. Thus direct communication is formed between the apertures 10, 18 and the channels designated by 14 by way of the venturi throat 17. The central bore 17a is closed on the bottom side by a plug 19.

The upper end of the externally tapering part 20, the pick-up end of the holder, or pencil, is also housed airtight internally in the lower end of the second tube or envelope 8. The edge 21 constitutes a stop. In this part 20 is provided a central bore 22, of which the top end is widened so that it communicates directly with the channels 14, while at the other end it is narrowed So that it constitutes at this place a working aperture 23, of which the sectional area is smaller than the object to be transported.

This holder can be handled as follows. On the end 3 is slipped a rubber tube connected with a compressed air supply duct. The holder is then held in the hand in the manner of a pencil. The compressed air travels through the bores 2, 5, 17 and 17a via the apertures 18 and 10. This flow of gas will produce an underpressure at the throat of the venturi 17, which underpressure is propagated in the chamber 16, the channels 14 and the bore 22 via duct 15. Thus at the working aperture 23 a constant underpressure will prevail with a constant flow of compressed gas. The value of this underpressure depends not only upon the pressure of the compressed air but also upon the configuration of the conical gap 15' and/or throat 17 and can be easily adjusted in a simple manner to the desired value required for holding by suction effect crystals for use in sen1i-conductor devices at the working aperture 23. The release of an object held by suction at the aperture 23 can be achieved in a simple manner by closing the outlet 10 with the finger. Since the compressed air cannot leave the holder through the aperture 16}, the air will emerge through the bore 22, so that the object held at aperture 23 is, so to say, blown away. It has been found that the object can be blown away Patented June 25, 1963 aoaaaaa by a comparatively small force, for example, by not closing the aperture completely.

What is claimed is: l. A vacuum pickup pencil comprising: an elongated member having a central bore communicating with a fluid pressure inlet at one end, a working aperture at the other end, and a lateral outlet aperture between said inlet and working apertures, means closing the bore of said tubular member between said outlet and working apertures and dividing said bore into a first bore and a second bore, said first bore extending between said inlet and lateral outlet apertures, means secured to said tubular member within said first bore defining a venturi throat coaxial with said first here, said venturi throat being located in said first bore between said inlet and lateral outlet apertures,

and passage means interconnecting said venturi throat and said working aperture through said second bore.

2. A pickup pencil according to claim 1 wherein said means defining said venturi throat comprises a venturi.

piece having at least one recessed exterior surface defining a channel between said piece and the adjacent wall of said tubular member, duct means interconnecting said throat with said channel, said channel interconnecting said duct means and said second bore.

3. A vacuum pick-sup pencil comprising: a means comprising a first tubular envelope having a central bore; means connected with said first tubular envelope having a central bore coaxial with the central bore of said first tubular envelope, the lower end of said last named means remote from said tubular envelope having a tapered end portion; a second tubular envelope connected with said means having a central bore coaxial with the central bore of the first envelope, said second envelope having a lateral outlet aperture; venturi means disposed Within said second tubular envelope, said venturi means having a conical recess in one end thereof and receiving said tapered end of said connection means in spaced relation therewith, said venturi means having a bore coaxial with the bore of said second envelope and defining a constriction orifice at the upper end thereof adjacent to the conical recess, a lateral aperture in the bore of the venturi means connecting with the lateral aperture of the second tubular envelope, said venturi means having at least one recessed exterior surface defining a longitudinally extending channel with the adjacent interior surface of the second tubular envelope, the lower end of the bore of the venturi means remote from the tapered recess terminating in an aperture for receiving a plug member, a plug member in closing communication with said aperture in the lower end of said venturi means;

means extending from within second tubular member the lower end of said having a central bore coaxial with said central bore of said second tubular member, said central bore of said latter means communicating with plug member thereof remote said aperture for receiving said and a working aperture at the end from the aperture for receiving the plug member, said last-named bore communicating with said longitudinally extending channel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A VACUUM PICKUP PENCIL COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED MEMBER HAVING A CENTRAL BORE COMMUNICATING WITH A FLUID PRESSURE INLET AT ONE END, A WORKING APERTURE AT THE OTHER END, AND A LATERAL OUTLET APERTURE BETWEEN SAID INLET AND WORKING APERTURES, MEANS CLOSING THE BORE OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBER BETWEEN SAID OUTLET AND WORKING APERTURES AND DIVIDING SAID BORE INTO A FIRST BORE AND A SECOND BORE, SAID FIRST BORE EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID INLET AND LATERAL OUTLET APERTURES, 